The season of giving is quickly approaching. While many are going to be concerned
about what gifts to buy, others are giving back to those less fortunate. But, who
do you give to? Well, for faculty and staff at the Graham School of Management (GSM)
at Saint Xavier University (SXU) that choice was easy. As the media spotlight diminished,
who is left to support those impacted by Hurricane Harvey?

Continuing in its mission and the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy, the faculty and
staff of the GSM are reaching out to the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. To
that end, GSM has partnered with Southwest Schools, a choice-based Texas education
district in Houston.

As part of the first phase of providing assistance, GSM, under the leadership of Acting
Dean Faisal Rahman, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor David Parker, J.D., has raised
in excess of $1,500. The money will be used by the school district to assist families
of students who have lost everything to purchase basic necessities. Janelle James,
superintendent and chief executive officer of Schools for Southwest, in an email stated,
"The timing of your offer to assist our high school is karma and will be helpful to
students' families under the "Southwest Cares" program."

Officials from the Texas school district will be coming to Chicago this month to begin
discussion on a collaborative relationship for year-round assistance program between
the two entities. It should be noted that 85 percent of Southwest Schools' students
come from economically disadvantaged families and the mission of the school is to
help the most at-risk and troubled youth learn, grow and succeed by providing assistance
and resources.

SXU's GSM is an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited
(only five percent among business schools in the world) program which offers both
undergraduate and graduate business degrees. SXU, founded by the Sisters of Mercy
in 1847, is a Catholic, coeducational, comprehensive university located in Chicago
but offering its programs in its main campus and several other locations.

For more details, please email Dean Rahman (rahman@sxu.edu) or Professor Parker (parker@sxu.edu) or call Kathy Roberts at Graham School at 773-298-3600.